In the Shadow of the Ocean (CasualVelociraptor x PhoenixRising82)

[CasualVelociraptor]

Alice Guthrie awoke naked and strutted around her modest flat on Hershing Street in Radiant City’s murky and heavily polluted South Bend (located on the once scenic banks of the barge choked Radiant River) to stretch her legs and start her day as she looked for any sign of Abigail, the nom de plume of the prostitute that she’d slept with last night with whom she had a lot of history. She found none save a small white rose and a heartfelt note, which read:

"To my darling Alice.

Last night was amazing and incredible and unexpected. It rekindled those flames that I had thought died all those years ago. Whilst I wish things could be different, we are different people now and as time moves on, maybe fate will draw us to each other again. Regardless, last night was one I shall remember for my whole life. I hope and trust that you felt the same way. I have taken my leave and wish you the best. But well I doubt this will be the last time we will see each other. You shall and forever be my closest and dearest friend, and my fiery and beautiful first love. I am sure you can find me if I'm needed, I know I certainly can find you now.

My Love, A

P.S Keep your eyes out for when the rain stops."

Alice smiled, remembering how Abigail always said that one day she would gain the power to stop the rain, despite being human and not knowing magic. The young detective wiped away a stray tear, put the rose in water, filed the note away, and showered off the sweat and sex she’d accumulated.

If she didn’t get any visitors (which rarely happened, and so she didn’t expect it to happen), or if she didn’t get any mail (either via messenger crow or the scroll copier that used magic to automatically transmit the other user’s handwriting onto the paper on her desk), then after masturbating (or smoking some sweetgrass if she’d been fucked into oblivion) to get her concentration back into high gear, she’d walk to get some breakfast at the Savor+Cakes cart that usually parked itself across the street from her, since the proprietor, one Lucas Cobb, knew she would regularly pick up a Midvadirian sabertooth whale wrap for the road. Then she’d go around the streets if anyone needed her services as a private investigator; in a run down, smoggy area like this, she didn’t have to travel far to find someone. But before she could turn off the water, the scroll copier clicked and clacked at her incessantly.

Alice got dressed and sprang into action as soon as she heard the machine whirr to life. Then it printed out a message with the unmistakable initials “JDW” at the end. She’d heard of him, as he was as close to a feudal lord as one could get without having a noble title these days, and the fisheries of South Bend were his fiefdom, and the whaling trawlers (the largest and most mechanically capable in the world) that harvested the whale oil the world needed to light itself his fleet. Perhaps he’d heard of Alice by reputation as South Bend’s favorite daughter for her intellect, but if he was writing her rather than having one of his private security guards handle things, this had to be a very vexing situation, and therefore, before she even knew what he needed, it was already very interesting for Alice.

Now she pulled the paper out of the machine and read its contents...

 

[PhoenixRising82]

Jareth Williams, stood at his large, rather ornate, office window, staring down over the bleak and dismal ‘ruins’ of South Bend and its docks.

Leaning softly on his cane, dark eyes drifted slowly over the peepers, watching them all in turn with a critical eye. Watching as his men and women cordoned off the loading area of dock 17 as discretely as possible, as instructed.

Watched suspiciously, those craning their necks to get a look at what was going on. They should be working, not playing a one sided game of “I Spy” for fucks sake.

With a deep sigh, he watched several of them ushered and shooed off before letting his roiling gaze shift to the carriage that made its way through. The woman’s body hidden from his and ultimately everyone’s sight as it stopped below.

Still, he watched. Though he could no longer see what was happening, he knew. He’d instructed it. And he knew they were doing exactly as he’d instructed.

Several minutes ticked by before he heard a voice behind him. Speaking softly in the presence of his boss and friend.

”Adamaris, the carriage is ready. The ’package’ has been loaded. It’s ready for transport.”

With a glance at his watch, he turned a withering sneer upon one of his few actual friends, Paio. Leveling the expression for a long, tension filled, heavy moment before he spoke in return.

”You’ll be the next ‘package’, John, should you ever call me that again in public. You know better. Also, I can clearly see it’s ready, my leg is bad. Not my eyesight.”

Paio leaned against the desk, arms crossed over his broad chest and a smirk lit across his lips. He’d actually trained in the Aquarian Army with Adamaris, just a year younger than the King’s son. They’d become fast friends and when the King-to-be had rebelled, so did he. He knew what Adamaris was capable of and he knew, that even despite his considerably larger stature....Adamaris would and could in fact kick his ass from here to Atlantia and not even break a sweat. Though he would give him a run for his money regardless.

He cleared his throat as he watched “Jareth” step back from the window and limp toward the scroll copier.

”There’s one more thing I want you to do. Take another carriage. I want you and only you, to go retrieve one Miss Guthrie and bring her, immediately to the house.”

As he spoke, he worked at the scroll copier. Within a few minutes, the message was formed and sent.

Miss Guthrie,

I must speak with you concerning an important matter that requires your expertise. Your presence is adamantly ‘requested’, as is your silence. A carriage will bring you to where you need to be. Don’t be late.

JDW​

He turned and offered a strained smile to Paio before handing him a small strip of paper that held the address he would need and then with a wave of his hand, he spoke.

”Go, quickly. I want you there before she steps foot out of her door. Bring her by whatever means you must but get her there. We are on a time limit, as you well know.”

Paio gave a silent nod and turned on his heels, any cheeky, friendly expression shared between the two was gone in the seriousness of the matter at hand.

Jareth was not long behind him, stepping into the waiting carriage that would take him and Amara back to Palaidia and his private estate.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“Miss Guthrie,

I must speak with you concerning an important matter that requires your expertise. Your presence is adamantly ‘requested’, as is your silence. A carriage will bring you to where you need to be. Don’t be late.

JDW”

Alice was not fazed in the slightest by the letter or the scare quotes around the word requested, as she’d received nearly as many requests by wealthy clients to handle embarrassing “matters” quietly as pleas for aid by destitute ones. Her reputation for discretion and ability to get her hands dirty recommended her to many in the upper echelons of society, enabling her to charge a markup that she then passed along in the form of discounted rates for those who could ill afford to pay her market value.

Without any more details, she thought as she folded up the letter and tucked it away in the breast pocket of her coat, for now she could only hazard a guess at what Jareth Williams of the eponymous Jareth Industries (and its multitude of shell corporations) could want from her. What was puzzling was that the type of unsavory work she was normally called for, such as finding out affairs or intervening to promote the silence of illegitimate children, was once again something that Jareth could easily send goons on his payroll to do. So it again begged the question: what in her vast stores of expertise was he trying to tap? What could she possibly offer the man who had everything?

Alice, however, did not have much time to contemplate the nuances of what little she could discern. Instead she grabbed her trusty gauntlet, which granted her a mean punch and concealed her spring-loaded grappling hook, magnifying glasses, and a variety of other tools. In a pinch, the various leather straps on her clothing and bare right arm also carried test tubes full of chemical solutions and reagents, pens (those always died on her), and even mini smoke grenades among other small utilities. And if those didn’t deter bad actors, then her easily concealed Sperling-Watson Model 1867 revolver from her time in the Imperial Army almost certainly would. Alice had gotten used to always carrying a gun on her person; after all, she’d survived these cruel streets because she’d learned that many men would only listen to women who packed heat, and as much as Jareth seemed, from what she’d gleaned of his public persona, to be outwardly charming, those who trusted anyone overmuch ended up dead or worse in her experience.

No sooner had Alice locked the door to her flat behind her than an ornate, state of the art autocarriage appeared on the street in front of her, driven by a man with long hair. As much as she did admire the inner workings of such a horseless contraption, she would have much preferred to run her way across the rooftops until she could get to the Illumina transportation depot in the center of Radiant to take an “icebreaker” train, so called because they’d carved paths through the massive Columnis glacier at the far north of the Isle of Caledoria, or (especially) fly on an airship if he insisted on living so far outside the city. But his letter had equally insisted on cramming her into a tight, cushioned box for a slow ride west on the dirt and cobblestone roads to his mansion in Palaidia, and so that was what she had to put up with. It was a quiet, boring trip for many long minutes across fields that held quaint little houses and cows full of nothing else of import as the messy, chaotic city that she called home faded into the background.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

It would come to fruition the closer they neared Palaidia and the grand Palaidia Hall, just why Jareth had insisted upon this mode of transportation.

”Yes. It’s boring and slow but Jareth isn’t exactly keen on anything that moves faster than he does, nor anything that flies around in the sky.”

John quipped, while his voice was low and calm, it cut through the silence like a shot, with a tilt of his head as he sat across from Alice in the small space. It would likely be a bit roomier, was he not in the carriage with her or she with him but they made due.

The carriage approached the gates, stopping as the tentacles of the wrought ironed sea-born creature began to, one by one, curl and retract behind the body of the octopus.

As the tentacles retracted and the body began to quiver open fully, Paio drew in a breath and shifted as he peered across at her, a serious expression etched into his features.

”Don’t look directly at him and whatever you do, don’t look at or ask about his leg and why he limps.”

Somehow, he managed to keep his expression stoic the rest of the ride up the drive until the carriage came to a stop again in front of the monolithic Palaidia Hall.

Only when she began to disembark, with her back to him did he crack a smirk. Oh he’d thrown both in there knowing Adamaris would wonder and likely ask about why she wasn’t looking at him and hoping like hell she would in fact ask about his limp.

*************************​

The carriage he and Amara had arrived in was less extravagant than many would have believed. It was however larger in interior. Sleek black, inside and out. Automated but guided by a mechanical man. When Jareth wasn’t staring across to the prone, lifeless body of his former lover, he was quietly staring out the windows that afforded him extravagant views of the countryside he so loved. Some places on land were just as beautiful as the sea and this route and his home, were just that.

When they arrived, he instructed the ‘driver’ to carry the body inside and put her on the sofa inside the parlor. He took a moment to change before he himself wandered into the parlor. Dragging a chair to sit beside the sofa, he settled into it and reclined comfortably, one hand resting against his cane, the other gently stroking through the blond locks that cascaded over the arm of the sofa as he awaited Alice’s arrival.

*************************​

As Paio led Alice toward the door, a few guards could be seen stalking the grounds. A few of the turrets housed a few more. All sporting artillery as heavy as they’re frames. All silent and doing their jobs.

Xentan01 was the only one that greeted them as they climbed the stairs to the doors. He was the only one programmed for house duties, the only one with the ability to hold at least a small conversation with anyone in the household. The only one with the ability to understand speech and answer in return.

”Where is he, Xen?”

Paio asked bluntly as the mechanical man welcomed them through the doors and into the foyer.

”Right this way, Sir. Madam.”

The mechanical servant replied politely and led them toward the parlor.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Alice did nothing more than nod to John's statements, not paying much attention to the man's sarcasm or to his serious face either other than noting that he had made them. Instead she paid attention to his words and started to grow curious about why Jareth did in fact, have a limp; but she didn't show it. If Paio didn't know better, then he would have thought that Alice was the corpse being delivered to Palaidia Hall instead of Amara, for she was that still in her seat.

She did express some perturbation at one thing she noticed outside the window of the carriage that she slumped against, however: a sign for Power Philters (often just called philters), elixirs by the mysterious Future Fountains LLC that proclaimed the catchy slogan of "Evolve Today!" These had been popping up all over the place in Radiant City lately, promising those who quaffed them superpowers depending on what they drank. After downing something apparently tasting like a mixture of castor oil and iron, and then keeping their stomachs empty due to reported vomiting fits if they ate anything for a day after use, those who imbibed would in fact be able to shoot fire, ice, or electricity from their fingers, lift things with their mind, and more, and sales of the stuff had skyrocketed as a result. Alice had a hunch that something was not right about these drinks, however, and so had abstained despite going against the grain in South Bend, where these new abilities were cheaper and easier to use than guns or melee weapons and were reportedly helping empty the streets at night. Now, however, advertisements for them were spreading outside the city, and that concerned her more.

The only thing that dispelled the feeling was spotting Palaidia Hall. She had to hand it to Jareth: he knew how to proclaim that he had the biggest and best toys on the block. As it pulled up to the unusual gate, the carriage passed by a Goliath, also called a walker, a fifty foot tall walking Imperial troop transport vehicle belching black smoke into the otherwise clear blue sky, making the ground shake with its ponderous feet, and sporting enough mounted heavy repeating guns and artillery to level an entire village. Jareth's house dwarfed it from what she could tell, and she hardly blinked at its imposing architecture. The automations patrolling the grounds rivaled anything the military had too, but this time Alice betrayed a smile at seeing their sophisticated gears and behaviors and observing every detail of their movements. Even if Jareth fired all his human security personnel, she mused to herself, he would never need a gun or a philter like the common folk in the docks he ruled because he could most likely hunker down here and have his tinpot soldiers stop entire battalions of his opponents.

Once she was led into the parlor, Alice stopped in her tracks, the pale, unmoving woman on the couch that Jareth was caressing affectionately giving her something to look at other than his eyes, which she noted with a glance were on a face rather strewn with stubble, belying a man wrapped in comfortable clothes and surroundings such as himself.

"Mr. Williams, it's so good to finally make your acquaintance," Alice said in her accent, rough-hewn by street life despite her self-taught vocabulary. Dispensing with further pleasantries as she understood him to be a very business oriented man, she said, her voice starting to ask a question but then warping it mid-sentence, "You've called me here to find this woman's killer. I won't ask why you've moved her from where she was found on the dock" (said after spotting a particular type of dried Radiant River mud on her boots) "as that is not my place. However, I must inform you that this will place some limitations on the information I am able to supply you. If this is not what you need me for, please inform me now; otherwise, I will need you to tell me everything you know about the victim and how she was found this morning, and then I shall begin my examination."

She said this as if it was as obvious as the light of the sun that this is what he'd called her for. Perhaps it was, but Alice braced for the powerful man to tell her off if he believed she was wrong and his opinion was all that counted here.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

”Mmm....”

Jareth muttered softly as he leaned forward, expecting the woman to extend her hand and her gaze toward him upon meeting him. Especially if one were glad to make his acquaintance and all. The fact that she did neither, perplexed him a bit and he briefly cast a side glance toward Paio, who’s only response was to shrug as if he had no clue.

Turning his gaze back to Alice, his eyes wandering over her profile before he leaned back into the chair, expression stoic.

”Good. And I’m well aware. As I am confident that regardless of your limitations, you’ll still do a much better job than those that call themselves the police.”

Clearly there was a disregard and disdain etched into the gravel of his voice. The way it came off, he wasn’t entirely sure if she would do much better though either.

Clearing his throat, he pushed himself from the chair. The cane clicking softly against the floor as he circled his chair and moved behind the couch, turning to face Alice directly.

”Her name is Amara. She worked as a captain on one of my ships.”

That was all she would get on a personal level concerning Amara. Though she might have noticed even in that brief sputtering of words from his lips, that’s there was something that went beyond Boss and employee relations.

His gaze shifted and dropped, looking over the blond woman briefly before he turned on his heels, unsteady in that motion for just a second before he started pacing the room.

”She was laid out on Dock 17, just below my office window, when I arrived. It looked like she was sleeping and nothing more.”

His lips were sparse with the details, his mind on the other hand said so much more, to himself as he paced. He knew Amara would never be caught in such compromising circumstances or positions. There was a rough lot out there. She could defend herself quite proficiently but still, she wouldn’t have invited the temptation to anyone but him.

On a pace back toward her, he paused, lifting the cuffed sleeve to peer at his watch, his gaze flickering toward Amara and then to Alice.

”I checked her over when I found her, there were no obvious signs of what could have killed her.”

He finished gruffly before a flick of his fingers toward her and the body indicated he wished she’d get on with what she needed to do.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be any plainly obvious cause of death,” Alice said, almost as if to say it was already obvious to her while she knelt down, her gauntlet whirring and producing a magnifying glass with adjustable zoom of her own design that she now used to scan the body.

Meanwhile, it also dispensed a latex surgical glove that she wrapped her right hand in and then used to take samples with tweezers and a scalpel to put in her bottles of plain water and chemical solutions for later analysis. “If it weren’t for the rigor mortis all over her body, one would assume the victim is merely sleeping.”

Alice rarely ever referred to victims by their names. For one thing, many of them had no form of official ID or medical records and so they might as well be Jane and John Doe for all she knew. For another, it helped to keep her distance.

Something that she observed was somewhat hard to do for Jareth, and she sighed as she returned to her work. She’d had similar pain once before, and now she knew what he needed; what she could not give the man who had everything. His heart back to its full strength, for it appeared to have wilted when Amara died.

After inserting a thermometer into Amara’s ear, she proclaimed, “Based on body temperature and the nature of her body’s rigidity, I’d estimate time of death at around 0400 hours- roughly five hours ago.” She kept checking but could find no signs of bruises, cuts, or even skin under Amara’s finger nails indicative of a struggle.

Then she glanced at something over Amara’s shirt, cried, “Ah HA!” as if getting a stubborn hangnail out, and then pushed out her shirt to present a hole nearly invisible to the naked eye and folded down her magnifying glass. “I shall need to make a small incision to confirm, but I believe this unfortunate woman was stabbed in the heart by a needle of less than a centimeter in diameter. If it hit her in the wrong place, it could have stopped her heart in an instant.”

In order to get to the skin, Alice had to remove Amara’s flannel shirt and then her bra which she did with practiced speed- and, she mentally jotted, was rather fine and lacy for a ship’s captain. Probably a gift from her paramour. And so she set both articles of clothing down gently.

John turned around and coughed once Amara’s breasts were exposed, causing Alice to snap, “Would you kindly grow up? The victim’s a little too dead to care about modesty.” With that out of the way, she turned back to her work. She was not a doctor but her experience with field medicine enabled her to cut enough of the skin to peel some of it back and get a proper look. What she saw made the detective, who’d thought she’d seen everything in her 25 years of life, two years in the army, and seven years working on this job, take pause.

“I’ve heard the expression ‘heart stealer’- but that seems to be what literally happened. There’s no sign of surgery apart from mine, and it’s as if whatever stabbed her made her heart disappear as well. It’s...remarkably improbable.” Kate Guthrie, her mother, had always said nothing was impossible, only unexplained for now. And this was certainly one of those things that remained unexplained at the moment.

“While I ponder this conundrum...Jareth, Mr. Williams. Did Amara have any enemies? Any coworkers she feuded with? Jilted lovers?”

 

[PhoenixRising82]

Jareth continued to pace, listening. A growing tension filling his neck and shoulders. Every time his eyes found Alice, his lids twitched softly into a heated glare. Internally cringing each time she refused to use Amara’s name.

He tried to keep himself in check, resuming his pacing. He had his suspicions, given no clear signs of even a struggle that he’d noted himself. The things that had been happening to his people were not news to him but this time, even the thought hit far too close to home. Logically he understood Alice’s position, however it also put her in the same category as so many others, her distance, at the present time came off as uncaring.

Her exclamation caused him pause and he found himself wandering closer, until he was standing not but a few steps to the detectives right. Peering both curiously and cautiously over her shoulder at what she was doing. He noted the bra as it was removed. Indeed a gift from Jareth just a few short weeks ago. That brought a new thought....had she been on her way to see Jareth before their day started? It would explain why she was there and not down at the dock her ship was moored at. It also begged the question, in his mind, had someone done this to make a point to him. Did someone know? Or was it merely, coincidence?

His brow furrowed deeply and a sudden clack of cane meeting floor sharply, demanding attention, echoed through the room.

”This...unfortunate woman....has a name. Please use it.”

He gruffed down at Alice. His expression strained ever so slightly. He and Amara had by no means always been exclusive and during their off times, they’d both been with other lovers but when they were on, it had been intense and it had been the closest thing to true love that Jareth had ever been.

Her snap at Paio brought him back to the here and now, his brow furrowed and she’d feel the sharp snap of his cane against her thigh.

”There is more than one victim in the room and the others are alive enough to care about modesty.”

He barked softly in defense of his friend before letting her continue. Only glancing to a still turned Paio once, knowing it wasn’t seeing Amara’s breasts that had caused his friends reaction, knowing full well that his friend had been with Amara once himself. He harbored no ill will toward his friend for it.

He was silent a long moment, contemplating at least part of that and how to answer. There were plenty enemies, all around them truth be told.

”Do I look jilted?”

He leveled a darker stare upon her and in that gaze, there seemed to be something that spoke to more knowledge than he was letting on. He couldn’t, wouldn’t outright say it.

”We all have enemies. People that don’t like us, for whatever reason. Even you, I’m sure, Miss Guthrie. Amara was a lovely woman and she got along with most every body she came into contact with. Sure there were a few infights amongst her and those she worked with but never anything that would warrant someone killing her.”

Paio spoke up as he turned, his eyes steering clear of the body and instead lingering and bouncing back and forth between Alice and Jareth. Jareth gave a nod to confirm his friends words, while still holding his stare upon the detective.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Alice’s mind flashed back briefly to the scars she’d sustained on her thighs and buttocks from her father Josiah Guthrie’s beatings when she, Rose, and Edward were too young to fight back. Years ago, she would have punched Jareth across the room or even shot him for such an offense, but now she could understand his upset. His defensiveness all but confirmed that he’d been romantically linked to Amara without him ever saying a word about it.

Now she just closed her eyes, clenched her teeth, and stomped on the cane with a pop from her spring loaded right heel to get some of her anger out, which knocked it to the floor. Then Alice exhaled, gave Jareth back his cane since he seemed wobbly on his feet without it, and dressed Amara again (with some difficulty due to her tightening muscles) without directly addressing the issue of the dead woman’s nudity preferences as the rest of her fuming emotions dissipated.

“I had enemies,” Alice puffed matter of factly, rising to her full height and adjusting her cap. Chief among them was her ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Jersey, the Dollmaker, who had escaped from the infamous Edinar Asylum a year ago but had otherwise not resurfaced.

Even though Alice was 5’5”, she was sinewy, lithe, and wound tight, and her brushing past Jareth in his personal space and glaring up at him as she paced and contemplated the information told him all he needed to know. Her body language was saying to him, “Don’t. Ever. Do that again. Unless you want to end up like them.”

“Whoever Amara’s enemy was probably didn’t care how lovely she was,” Detective Guthrie continued. “He or she appears to have been a sociopath who was quiet, quick, calculating, and...efficient with a medical grade implement that liquified her heart and drained all the blood in her body while barely leaving a hole.” That was the strongest possibility for why her heart, and possibly other major internal organs, were missing. She demonstrated her point by slicing across Amara’s left arm with a knife and showing that there was no blood draining out. “My theory...”

She carefully looked back at both men, reading the situation more delicately this time.

“My theory, Mr. Williams, is that a rival of yours, and I’m sure you have many of those, hired an assassin to kill Amara, either in an attempt to obtain company secrets from her since she worked for you, which went awry because she wouldn’t sell out, or perhaps because you were...close to her and your enemy figured this was the best way to strike at you.”

 

[PhoenixRising82]

John started forward when he saw the cane jerked from Jareth’s grip. Concern etched across his brow as without a second thought he started to speak.

”Ad....”

Even as Jareth was struggling to keep from stumbling, he waved a sharp, warning hand at his friend, stopping him in his tracks. Sure, they weren’t in public but they were in the presence of someone neither of them really knew. He offered John a look that said clearly he was fine.

His attention averted back to Alice as she lifted the fallen cane back to him. Offering her a soft huff as his fingers curled around the ornate octopus head, an almost identical replica of the gates she’d pass through earlier. It tapped softly against the floor as he righted himself.

No sooner than he had done so, she was brushing past him. Unsettling his stance only briefly this time. The look she gave was duly noted with a soft dip of his head. His lips pressed together and twitched at the corner, a silent apology or at the very least something akin to one. Coming from someone like Jareth, that was saying something.

He straightened and stepped back, out of the path of her pacing. He’d noted her strength the first time she’d passed and knew they’d be like two ships colliding in the seas if he’d stayed put.

His fingers splayed briefly before wrapping once more around the head of the cane, so tight his knuckles began to whiten, as he watched her knife slice through Amara’s skin again. He bit his tongue, halting the command to stop from forming. Instead turning to listen to her theory.

If there was any reaction to her words, it was an inward, unseen jerk, as if he’d been mentally slapped. His thoughts earlier had been easy enough to dismiss, to brush aside as if they’d never existed. However, hearing it, verbally, come from someone else....he drew in a deep breath, leaning forward slightly against the cane before his tongue dragged across dry lips and he turned away from Alice toward John and addressed him matter-of-factly.

”It’s time. Take Amara home.”

John nodded, his lips forming a quiet, stoic line as he set into motion and crossed the short expanse in a matter of seconds.

As John lifted the smaller, lifeless body into his arms and carried her from the room, Jareth turned to face Alice once more. He was quiet for a moment as he made his way back to the chair he’d been sitting in, whisking his hand out to an opposing chair for her to take as he spoke.

”The samples you have will have to do but I am curious what can we hope to get from said samples? What is the process?”

He asked curiously, leaning back to watch the detective, waiting and wondering if she would challenge him in his decision.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“By the Empress, just what on earth do you think you are doing?” Alice demanded, her legs splayed wide as her arms blocked John from carrying Amara to the doorway to the foyer. “First you irrevocably destroy the crime scene, and now you interrupt the autopsy? For what purpose?!”

“I have taken samples of mud, hair, spit, sweat, skin, fibers around the site of the wound, and muscle, among others, and have preserved them in these small containers, either dry or in preservative solutions. With these, I can go home to my chemical separation table and take clippings to test for foreign particulates or liquids of any kind, which usually take a few hours. Then I would send off the soil samples to the AnalySoils lab, where it takes an entire team of specialists six days to find out the geographic location of mud, rocks, bits of plants- anything that could have stuck to those boots in the week prior to her death. But! The most important tests I could perform would have to be on the body, as that’s our biggest piece of direct evidence.

“Without any blood, a blood separation test is impossible. So I‘d need to take more muscle and skin samples, take out and analyze the organs individually, watch the decay pattern, and finally do what most coroners do when they suspect that vampire venom has broken down and extracted the blood from a body- a reverse formaldehyde suction procedure. I don’t believe a vampire killed Amara, but vampire venom is the only compound known to destroy blood this thoroughly. This would mean injecting formaldehyde manually into every major vein in the body, waiting for it to attach to the toxins, then extracting it back out and separating the formaldehyde from said venom to determine- well, a lot of things about where and who it might have come from. That process alone takes around two weeks.”

Alice was so frustrated by Jareth’s stonewalling that she ended up punching a piece of the literal stone wall next to her with her gauntlet, causing some rubble to appear on the floor at her and John’s feet. “So, Mr. Williams, why in the bloody hell would you drag me all this way to find the cause of death but not let me complete the forensic side of work? What possible reason could you conjure out of your tight arsehole, you colossal wanker?!”

 

[PhoenixRising82]

John stopped, shifting Amara in his arms briefly as he cast a glance back at Jareth. The older man shared a brief look at his friend before standing and making his way to stand beside him.

He took a second to brush a stray strand of blond from Amara’s cheek and then pinned Alice in a steady gaze.

”Her family needs to make funeral arrangements, immediately. I’m sure they’d rather not wait two weeks and receive a body that’s cut up and poked at anymore than it’s already been.”

While it was a flat out lie, it was believable in the mere fact that he, himself was having a hard time watching Amara being poked at and cut with even the minor things Alice had already done.

He could feel the detectives frustration rolling off of her in waves and he understood. He was asking a lot of her and giving her very little. It was the way it had to be.

As the rubble crumbled at their feet, he stepped around John and turned to face them all. His expression softening slightly, despite the crude names tumbling from her lips. When he spoke, he did so calmly.

”Frankly, sending you home to do all of that, waiting and then retrieving you is too long for me as well. So here is my offer to you, Miss Guthrie. You can take one more sample that you absolutely need to assist you further in your investigation. And with that, I extend an invitation for you to stay here at Palaidia Hall for the duration of your testings and investigation. You will have free reign over most of the place and everything you need at your disposal and for any inconvenience it may bring you, I will also triple your pay rate.”

John blinked and stared at his friend, almost as if he’d lost his mind but Jareth paid him no attention at the moment. Instead, he held an intense gaze on Alice, awaiting her decision.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

"Oh," was all that Alice could say at first as she withered under his intense gaze and finally accepted the chair that she was offered after receiving the news of Amara's family needing to bury her. Perhaps it was bullshit, but she was quickly learning to pick her battles. Now it was her turn to stare at the floor, reminiscing on how she felt when at age sixteen she had to bury her mother while her father and siblings looked on with as melancholy an expression as Jareth possessed now.

She closed her eyes, rested her chin on her hands, created a ponderance staircase in her mind that she often went to when she needed to pace mentally in a setting where actually pacing would be weird and then raised her eyes forward. "I understand," she said plainly. "And I accept your offer, but the sample I need is...not easily obtained, so if you have a sterile laboratory facility, I will need to use that. This is because...oh, how do I put this? I will speak plainly: I will need a sizable scraping of her vaginal lining. It's likely the only tissue that Amara has left with any moisture besides her mouth, which I already swabbed. This way I can check for tearing from any recent sexual assault, sperm samples, and also use formaldehyde on the toxin from the many blood vessels lining the inner walls. That will help me a great deal in pursuing all possible angles of investigation, and I doubt that anyone attending her funeral will be looking inside there."

"Logistically, I will also need your security guards to bring my table, some changes of clothes, my scroll copier (in case other clients need my assistance), and my personal armory cabinet. It is where I securely store all the weapons and tools that I cannot carry on my person at any one time. Do we have a deal, Mr. Williams?" She then extended her hand.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

Jareth watched her in silence, shifting his stance only slightly when she disappeared behind John to sit, his gaze shifting around his friends shoulder to continue watching her for a moment.

As she closed her eyes and set her chin in her hands, he glanced at John with a soft nod and patted him on the shoulder.

”Stay here a moment.”

He muttered and made his way toward the seat he’d vacated. By the time she cast her gaze upward again, he was settling into the chair across from her. Letting the cane rest between his knee and the upholstered arm as his hands straightened the jacket he wore.

”Thank you.”

He interjected softly at her understanding. Her acceptance of his offer was met with a single nod of his head in acknowledgement. Her request for a sterile lab was also met the same way and he turned his gaze to John.

His lips opened as if to speak to the other man but the words stopped dead on his tongue as Alice continued. His gaze drifting back slowly as he listened, taking it all in with perhaps a barely contained grace. He could have done without the explanation but at the same time, he was grateful to know how she would be handling it. His eyes danced, in a conflicted sway from her face to her extended hand when she was finished.

”I would hope they wouldn’t be.”

He said simply, knowing in fact that they wouldn’t be, since she’d likely be shifting back to her true form soon enough.

After a moments silence between the pair, he leaned forward and took her hand. His eyes meeting hers as he did so.

”We do. I will have your things here by the time you retire to bed this evening.”

Finally he turned back to John as he waited instruction.

”Take them both downstairs and when Miss Guthrie has what she needs, take Amara home.”

John nodded and started toward the door once again. Jareth stood and set his gaze on Alice, sweeping his hand forward, for her to follow the other man.

”I will be down momentarily. I’m going to go arrange for your things first.”

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Alice simply nodded her acknowledgment of his plans, as John cradled Amara delicately in his arms and looked down at her wistfully. Had he been close with her in the same manner that Jareth had been? If so it clearly hadn't been at the same time, as neither man demonstrated any kind of rivalry, or if there was one, it was long since past.

John soon pressed his palm on an innocuous part of the wall and opened a hidden stone door to an older, perhaps medieval era hallway deep in the bowels of the mansion, followed by a wooden door on her left flanked by torches that they each took in order to descend the winding stone staircase to yet another door (Alice mused that this man appeared to have more secret doors than rooms in her apartment). Once that was at last open by a key that John carried on his person, Jareth's laboratory was unveiled, and Alice's jaw dropped open for the first time in her visit to this mansion and she said, "Bloody hell" again, in a more positive tone this time.

All the equipment within far outclassed, both in size and complexity, the machinery she had at home or the AnalySoil lab; heck, it probably even rivaled the Imperial Science Consortium's headquarters to the north in scenic Unnadain. She'd only ever seen some of these contraptions at the last Royal Artistic, Industrial & Scientific Exposition ten years ago. She could probably get lost in the massive room for days trying to observe every little gizmo. Meanwhile, it was all surrounded by the largest saltwater aquarium she'd ever seen, putting the pitifully funded National Harbor Aquarium to shame. There were dolphins, all sorts of colorful fish, sharks, and the largest animal she could see- a giant squid.

It did cause her chest to tighten from anxiety a little bit as she was feeling once again trapped under the ocean, but it just seemed to John as though she was deliriously excited to start working here as she set Amara down on the cold examination table. "I'll leave you to it," the man grunted directly before turning to go upstairs.

"Wait!" Alice cried. "I...for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect Jareth or Amara. Of course I never mean to, but then sometimes my mouth just does it anyway. Point is, I'm sure I would have loved to meet Amara when she was alive." And Alice reflected that if she had encountered Amara on the street (dangerous though it would have been as homosexual relations were illegal, to the point where one misinterpreted signal by the object of her affection could lead to a report to the police and mean hard labor in the penal colony of Jogadunda for life, which is why she resorted to prostitutes or women she already knew) she would have risked it all to ask Amara out. "She seemed like a wonderful human being. I'm sorry I didn't see her as one at first, and for your loss. Both your losses." She then extended her right hand forward.

John was still getting used to life on land and didn't know if it was customary for humans to shake hands after an apology, but he took her hand and realized she had a firm grip. "I'll be right outside. Buzz the bell when you're done with her."

Ten minutes later, she'd buzzed the bell, and he remarked with a chuckle when he came back inside, "That was fast."

"You'd be disturbed how many of these kinds of biopsies I've had to do on dead women," Alice sighed bitterly.

"I'll go up and let you and Mr. Williams have a chat," John said, not wanting to query further.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

Jareth should have taken the stairs, he knew. He needed to work on his land legs, exercise them, get them used to doing things that human legs do regularly but he just didn’t have the time nor the patience currently to work on that.

He stared through the elevator bars as it rose, watching as various bits of his beautiful home passed slowly by but he was barely seeing them. Instead his mind was off, working in several different directions.

Amara. His Amara was gone and he felt that heavy pit in the center of his chest. It was akin to the first time his father had demanded he prepare for the throne. It was something he didn’t want to face but it was right there, in his face.

Alice. She intrigued him. He couldn’t put his finger on it but everything he knew about her, intrigued him.

John. He knew his friend was hurting as bad, if not more than he was. He knew of John’s feelings for Amara, he’d always known. They’d simply let her make her decision. It had been a test of their friendship but they’d weathered it.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the grinding halt and shaking jerk of the elevator as it reached its destination. With a mildly disgruntled grunt he unlocked the door and pushed it open. The soft tap of the cane echoing along the cavernous hallway, echoed the feeling in his chest currently.

With a flick of his thumb over a staring eye of the kracken beneath his hand, the door at the end of the hall began to whir and clack open, drowning out the hollow empty echo as he made his way toward the office.

Various lights strobed to life, pulsating in a soft rhythm as he stepped through the door and he took a moment to hobble toward the window to peer out at the grounds below. Watching briefly as the guards stalked around, ever vigilant of their master and his property.

Finally he turned and made his way toward his desk, standing a moment before his chair, he stared down at the beautiful contraption that currently served as his aging scroll copier, it was set and ready to change...when the times changed and he knew they would. It was coming and it was inevitable.

With a sigh and a swipe of his hand over his face, he fell back into the plush, crimson chair. Maybe he was out of his mind offering what he’d offered but it would save him a lot of time and trouble.

The message didn’t take long to send. His men would receive it post haste. Instructions on transport and the list of everything that Alice had requested and the address at which to gather everything. They were told to bring it all to his estate by air. While he loathed the airships himself, it would make things considerably easier to get these things to him. Not to mention, they could set down right on the property and carry everything inside without having to have a carriage bring them from the train, an unnecessary step when it could be handled with ease.

Done, he drew a key from the desk drawer before he exited the office. Pocketing it as he stepped back into the hallway. With another flick of his thumb, he listened as the door closed, knowing the lights would extinguish before he even reached the elevator again.

*************************​

While John didn’t want to inquire further, he did pause in his exit. Drawing in a slow breath he turned to face Alice again.

He’d been tight lipped until now. His thoughts held no importance until now.

”Alice, I was with Amara in the early evening last night. She stayed with me until just before the sun dawned but she did mention going to see Jareth. She missed him, dearly, she said.”

It would seem like an out of the blue statement but he knew, with the sample she’d just taken, she was likely to find him in her findings as she’d stated upstairs. So he figured it was at least somewhat pertinent information to inform her of and better to get it out of the way now.

*************************​

Jareth’s steps echoed along the walls as he descended into the basement, the cane adding an extra tap as he carefully navigated the steps.

He swept quietly into the room, his eyes drifting from Amara’s body laid out upon the table, to Alice and then to John as he stepped passed him and fully into the lab.

”If she’s finished, you can take her now, John. Please. When that’s done, if you’d come back to help get Alice’s things into the house, I would appreciate it.”

A nod shared between the two men, though John’s was slightly strained. He glanced at Alice once more before lifting Amara into his arms again and leaving Jareth and Alice to talk.

Jareth watched a moment as his friend carried Amara out and then turned to Alice. Drawing in a breath, his nose flaring softly as he looked her over briefly.

”You’ll need this.”

He spoke, digging into his pocket to produce the key he’d taken from his office. Holding it out to her, the lights glinted off the skeleton key, as it rested in his palm.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

The time that John just gave Alice for Amara leaving his bed was a crucial piece of information, the receipt of which she nodded at. The planet Emada (a name the meaning of which was lost to time) that all life depended on had a single moon named Brother Nefaris in the parlance of the Caledorian Church of Solstice (to which she was not subscribed, although she like other taxpayers was forced to tithe to it), and twin suns- a large yellow star, Father Vitalis, and a smaller white dwarf that orbited it, Daughter Luminas. Legend had it that Nefaris tried to steal the beauty of Luminas, nearly killing her.

But more to the point...the eccentricities of both stars' orbits, and the orbit of Emada around the suns, occasionally caused early Luminas sunrises at around 0300 hours Radiant Central Time about once, sometimes twice in a typical eight day week, often called "double light" days for the fact that they usually coincided with Nefaris' fall in the sky and added another six hours of faint but helpful light temporarily. (Sometimes it would disrupt sleep for those who could not afford shades on their windows, but it often also reduced crime, so was a mixed blessing.) Yesterday was in fact a double light day, and so it tracked with Alice's estimate of 0400 hours for the time of death. That meant there was only one hour left unaccounted for.

And so, Alice set back to her work of putting the samples in the proper machines until Jareth arrived and John finally took Amara's body away. Then she gave a small smile at the gift of the skeleton key and sighed, "Thank you, for everything. You're a very generous man, Jareth. And you've also been patient in...trying circumstances. I also must commend the sophistication of your...inventions? Or at least taste in purchasing laboratory equipment that is highly innovative yet easily grasped in operation." At least for her vast, largely self-taught intellect.

She cleared her throat and continued, "The punch cards printed out by these machines indicate that they will finish analyzing the smaller samples in about two hours, the mud samples in around four days without the lag time of sending it off to a lab, and the...um...sample of Amara's womb, shall we say, in around twelve days, including the reverse formaldehyde suction procedure, as opposed to the sixteen that a manual analysis would require. This will save me considerable time, but more importantly effort not doing the process by hand that I can use to track down non-forensic leads. Of course, you and John could also give me sperm samples to compare against any I find, but that...can be dealt with at a later time, and so for now I'm set in the laboratory. In the meanwhile-"

Alice's stomach growled at her.

"Um...is there a way I could find my guest room and perhaps have some brunch? Please?" Alice asked. She felt strangely sheepish, as if asking him to nourish her would be too much after all he did and how much of an ass she acted earlier.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

His head tilted, eyes dipping to watch her hand as fingers scooped the key up, brushing against the flesh of his palm. His gaze lifting again as she spoke and for the first time since she’d arrived, a genuine smile curled his lips at her proclamation of him being a generous man. He liked to think of himself as such. As much as their world allowed him to be, but some saw him differently. Those that perhaps didn’t understand the way things had to be in order for him to keep his people safe and protected, along with those that joined them.

His brows bounced upward and he chuckled, shaking his head as he glanced over her shoulder at a few of the things contained in the lab.

”Oh, not my inventions. Most of them belong to the brilliant mind and work of RichLabs. Specifically, Octavia Richards herself. She’ll be extremely pleased that not only are they being used but appreciated as well. You’ll have the chance to tell her yourself in the coming weeks. Since some of these pieces aren’t for the general public’s use, she will love to hear any and everything you have to say about them. Good or bad, so don’t hold back.”

He spoke of the objects and the woman that had created them with a barely contained gush of admiration it seemed. With good reason of course. If it weren’t for Octavia, who knows where he would be today, truth be told. Perhaps under one of Alice’s microscopes even and not in a good way.

He, too, cleared his throat and stepped forward to have a look at the punch cards she mentioned. Nodding softly here and there. His shoulder gently brushed against her as he turned to gaze at her.

”I appreciate the gentleness but you don’t have to tip toe around the subject. Yes, I am saddened that it’s happened but now, I would much rather find out how and why it’s happened. I, as I’m sure John will, give you anything you need from us. Also, if you need access to the dock she was found on or her ship and it’s dock, I can arrange it.”

Hearing her stomach grumble, his own threatened to do the same, though the sound was covered somewhat as he spoke.

”Yes, I’ll show you around the rest of the manor, while I have Xen make us something to eat. Come on.”

With a wave of his hand for her to follow, he was headed toward the door but once they were out of the lab and the door closed behind them, he insisted that she traverse the stairs ahead of him. He was slower in going up stairs, than he was in coming down them and she needn’t be behind him for that mess.

Back upstairs and after a moments pause to allow him to gather himself and relax his legs, (which he would not admit verbally to bothering him at the moment), he began the tour of Palaidia Hall. First stop was the dining room, followed by the kitchen where he took a moment to instruct Xen2 to make up some lunch for the both of them. Asking what Alice wished to have, he rushed the mechanical chef off to do his work, while he led Alice back out and onto the rest of the manor. The downstairs study which housed a small library along its walls. The main, full library, the indoor pool, the outdoor pool, greenhouse and expansive gardens. Before showing her the bedrooms on the main floor, he ushered her into the elevator and showed her around the second floor as well. His office, another library, several other bedrooms, bathrooms. He pointed out the stairs to the turrets and everything in between before taking her back to the main floor. Showing her first his bedroom and then just down the hall, her own bedroom. Quite large and stylish in its own right. Certainly bigger than any that he’d shown her upstairs.

”However, if you’d rather sleep upstairs, you may.”

He offered, letting her wander into the room on her own.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Still feeling residual warmth from the electricity that went into her hands after he touched her palm with his own and glanced shoulders with her, Alice told herself in her mind, NO! Bad Alice. He just lost somebody he really cared about, and you would be human scum to take advantage of that. Still, it felt nice to be touched by somebody she didn't pay to do it, even if the gestures involved were completely innocent.

After taking a long time to carefully consider all his statements, the detective replied with a wide smile, "The Octavia Richards? The very same one who mastered powered heavier than air flight twenty years ago, when everybody said not only that no one could do it, but that a woman would never break ground in that field?"

This was even more in its infancy than the hundred year old principles of lighter than air flight that the slowly spreading airships relied on, but aeroplanes had come a long way since Octavia's first ornithopters two decades ago flew for barely a minute at a time for a hundred yards under hand power. They hadn't been widely adopted due to high production costs making them prohibitively expensive, but the potential for their use in both military and civilian applications was even more promising to Alice than zeppelins, as much as she appreciated them for the ability to cheaply take people places (including, hopefully, her).

"I am so excited to meet her whenever she does arrive, and pick her brain not only on how these machines work so as to better solve the case, but also what it feels like to fly, as I've always looked up to her and want to be like her. And speaking of better solving the case...I'll be sure to go down to the docks tomorrow and to her ship to interview the crew, away from their boss, to see what might be up." Then she also was very agreeable to the sleeping arrangements

When it came time for Alice to put in her lunch order, she requested the one recipe she'd enjoyed and could occasionally have while in her time in the Imperial Army: Surabamban spicy dragon. This dish was usually taken from the fillet meat of any dragon (in this case, legally hunted Raeybekite polar dragons from within the Empire, which were a bit tougher and less common than Confederate Northern taiga dragons, but also wouldn't stir up an international incident if killed) fired up in a metal wok- which, surprisingly, he had- with Zadrian death peppers, which were spicy enough to tenderize the muscles on their own.

It was then served on a bed of rice with green onions, ginger, curry powder, onion powder, sesame seeds, and yuul (an aromatic liquid made from ground up and strained Surabamban night blossom, or yuulflon, that balanced the acidity of the peppers with a buttery flavor and had become popular in Caledoria due to milk factory strikes making the government have to ration milk, butter and cheese across Radiant). A huge lunch spread was soon prepared, laying out a massive spread of bats, pork, dragon, duck, and various seasonal fruits and vegetables in addition to Alice's dish, which John enjoyed a taste of but Jareth thought was too hot for his blood. (Curiously, there was no seafood, and when Alice asked Xen2 why he refused to answer. Also, the bats were at John's request, which made Alice raise an eyebrow, but they were delicious. And John assured her that these were bats who had a good life eating mosquitoes in the attic, and there were plenty more where that came from.)

She was not used to eating so lavishly, so while she tried little bits of everything, she requested that a lot of the food be boxed up and sautéed once again on the stove for whenever it came time for dinner. It was an old habit from when she'd tried to help make ends meet for her indisposed sister Rose and young brother Edward in lean times when, after her father was crushed by gambling debts after the death of her mother, he had to sell their childhood house for a cramped flat and stretch every meal out. She'd carried over that habit into life on the streets busking with her father's old violin in the UnderTram, as people took to calling heavy, underground trains as opposed to the above ground FlatTram system made up of above ground streetcars, bridge trains, and cross country trains and the SkyTram, a series of magnetized rails above the hustle and bustle where people with grappling hooks such as Alice's could ride freely to their destinations.

In the hours between lunch and dinner, Alice buried her nose in book after book; mostly nonfiction but also some of the latest fantastical fiction about the science of the future from such authors as J.K. Emmett and the adventures of his likable mad scientist Dr. Illiakov and old favorites from the female writer Claudia Hill, who brought a patented mixture of magic, mystery, romance, and action for her heroic archaeologist Abigail Woods more than thirty years ago. She didn't read them in depth yet, but she knew there would be time and piled her cart high with books of all sorts for her to read when she hauled them to her bedroom.

And when dinner came around and the boys were enjoying new meals and she was gnoshing on her leftovers, Alice could have sworn that John was sitting next to her, closer than he'd been at lunch. She caved to a couple glasses of 1862 vintage wine from the Ultradt Valley at Jareth's insistence, which was the first time she had anything fancier than beer in some time, and true to his suggestion paired well with her food. Wine of any vintage had been hard to come by since the Imperial-Alliance of Free States trade war earlier this year, but of course where there was a checkbook, Jareth made a way. And it made the way for Alice to laugh at nothing in particular with all of them, touch John's broad shoulders and shimmy her own in response to his compliments on her analysis of the situation, and even dance a little on the table when she decided to experiment with whether her whole weight could be supported by it and declared it a success before the boys could get too much of a show.

After that, and walking nearly the whole of the front lawn to observe stars she'd never seen before in the brisk but refreshing night away from the light pollution of the city, Alice went to her room, stripped, showered, and curled up in bed in a very translucent nightgown while reading another Abigail Woods adventure. Within an hour she was already a third of the way through the three hundred page tome.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

Jareth nodded and replied that that Octavia was indeed, one and the same. He would also make reference to his disdain for the flying machines, regardless of his adoration of Octavia, sharing the countless times the woman had tried to get him into one and his adamant refusal to do so. Laughing as he told the tales but never specifically saying why he wasn’t fond of air travel. He knew though that Octavia would absolutely adore Alice and her enthusiasm toward the nightmarish (to him anyways) progression of air travel.

Lunch was calm and a chance for him to rest. Idle chatter passed between he, John and Alice. John joking about the bats in Jareth’s belfry being quite tasty as well. Jareth casting him a glance that all at once rolled his eyes and smirked, exasperated and amused at his friend. He refrained from telling the detective that she needn’t save her lunch, not wishing a possible offense on her again. Plus, if she enjoyed it, then who was he to deny her? With their deal firmly in place, this was as much her home as his and she could do almost anything she pleased, just as he did.

The airship arrived between lunch and dinner. Jareth stood by, overseeing the transport of Alice’s things from the ship to the house. John rolled up his sleeves and helped, as did the men that had traveled with her belongings. He’d seen her, lost in the expansive library and its many tomes and he opted not to bother her upon its arrival. He simply had them put the stuff in her room and she could put everything where she wanted it when she was ready.

When dinner came, it was a fresh meal for the men and Jareth quietly watched Alice as she thoroughly enjoyed not only her leftovers but the wine he’d had brought to the table. Modified tales of he and John as they grew up together were shared, idiotic tales of the trouble the pair would get into. Laughs had all around.

Jareth would be lying if he wasn’t increasingly intrigued by the woman that shared dinner with them and even more so when she hopped up onto the massive table once the dinner plates were cleared. He was a man after all. He watched her curiously, wondering just how far she’s go. A small chuckle escaping him as, across the table, John stood and offered his hand to help her down.

The men settled in the study for a short talk after dinner, knowing Alice would be fine wandering the grounds on her own as they hashed over a few things from the day. Making arrangements for John to accompany Alice to the docks when she was ready and give her access to anything she’d need there.

When they were through, Jareth made it clear that he’d be heading to his own private pool for a while before retiring to bed. John nodded, knowing why and stood to retire himself for the night.

On his way through, he noticed the faint slit of light cascading from Alice’s bedroom door. With the soft knock he laid upon it, the door began to creak open slightly. With another soft push, John opened the door and tentatively stepped into the doorway. Offering Alice a smile from across the room.

”Hey, just checking to see how you’re settling in.”

His tone low but it carried well enough across the room as he watched her.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Alice smiled back as warm as the light of the whale oil lamp she was reading by as she saw John's smile from across the room. As she got a bookmark she pilfered from the library, successfully saved her place, and put the book aside, she thought about everything that had transpired between John and herself before answering. It was only a matter of seconds before she stood up, stretched, and offered her reply, yet in her mind time itself bent to her will as she weighed everything that he'd said and done.

She'd definitely enjoyed the attention of both men on the dancing display that her slightly tipsy ass was swaying to at dinner. Jareth was objectively handsome but, despite really pulling off the "older, suave, sophisticated gentleman" airs really well, was not quite her type despite feeling a spark earlier. In general, men were less her type than women, but John was definitely built like a house and so, when it came to the male aesthetic, he was most certainly a treat for her eyes. As with Jareth, she didn't want to make a move in case it would be too much while he was going through everything with Amara, but he'd certainly put some moves on.

The flirty touches at dinner. The way he'd clearly looked her up and down while she was dancing. The chivalrous offer to bring her down from the table and then his touching of her hand and arm once she did return to earth. Since she barely knew him, and vice versa, she was understanding his position more as being a man with needs, rather than a man with feelings. That was fine by her, since she was a woman with needs, and feelings were rather hard for her to come by. He was doing his best to be kind and subtle about it, and she appreciated that, and wanted him to know that his advances were not unwelcome if he chose to be the one to take things further.

So, feeling like she wasn't coming on too strong or pushing him, she crossed her right arm over her stomach to rub her left, lifting her chest up and more into focus, before saying, "Don't get me wrong, this place is amazing to begin with, and could have all the books, food, and lab equipment I could ever possibly need, but I'm settling in much better for the night now that you're here. Come and sit with me a spell, John. And thank you again for checking on me." She said this with a small lift of the corner of her lips, followed by a bit on the lower lip by her teeth.

Alice was now slightly embarrassed, though, as she realized she accidentally hadn't put any undergarments on (well, to be fair, she hadn't expected any company, and normally slept in the nude; but although a nightgown, especially one as fine as this, was not common for her, the silk felt pleasantly ticklish against her skin) and that he'd be able to see...everything through the thin fabric, including her stiffening nipples and her shaved pussy that was getting slightly puffier and redder from arousal. Especially now that she'd sat down and that pulled her nightgown up. So she crossed her legs over the edge of the bed and tried to recover by smiling and patting a spot on the bed next to her.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

Admittedly, his attraction had grown mentally and physically over the course of the evening. He’d paid attention to Jareth, watching what sort of attention he’d lavish on Alice and judge from there. If there was no interest, he’d certainly take the opportunity to jump at sating his need. And his friend had shown little primal interest in the woman.

He knew if there’d have been any, Jareth, having just lost Amara or not, would have swooped in like a hawk and sexually devoured the girl.

Leaning against the doorframe, he watched as she stood and stretched. Making no move to turn away, not as he’d done with Amara. That, that had been out of respect for Adamaris. Nor was there any disrespect in his blatant gaze through the translucent material.

He’d noted the soft curves of creamy flesh that peeked just over the ruffles of her shirt as he’d sat next to her during lunch and dinner. The warmth of her skin beneath his hand as he’d helped her down from the table, the feel of it against the tips of his fingers as he’d let them tentatively trace along her arm.

It had all lingered on his mind and skin as he’d sat in the study and it thrilled him that Jareth wanted him to go along with Alice. If he was being honest with himself, his heart had picked up speed, as his libido when he’d noted the crack of light spilling into the hallway.

His tongue dragged across his lips, his gaze dancing lower as her arm lifted her breasts. Noting the soft dusk color beneath the thin material as her nipples pressed taut against the fabric.

When she asked him to come sit with her, he pushed from the door frame.

”Is that so?”

He questioned, his voice low. His gaze dropping lower still, at first settling on her patting hand before unabashedly turning toward her lap, catching just a glimpse of the prize that nestled so deliciously between her thighs.

”If you insist.”

He quipped as his leg bumped against the edge of the bed before he settled onto it beside her. Resisting the urge to let his hand and fingers caress against her leg, instead he lifted his fingers to sweep a few stray strands of hair from her face, tucking them gently behind her ear and letting his touch linger around behind the curve of it, teasing the sensitive flesh.

”Glad to be able to help a pretty girl.”

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Alice Guthrie was many things- a well-liked detective, a decorated war veteran, ex-girlfriend to one of the most notorious serial killers in modern memory, daughter of a whaler- but deep below all that, in her basest of instincts she was a woman who needed to be fucked until she couldn’t remember any of that. And as much as John had been scanning her body beneath the thin veil and had caught a glimpse of her honeypot, she had been checking out his ripped muscles and the tent rapidly forming in his pants, and craved for the ability to conduct a more...thorough scientific experiment.

Now Ms. Guthrie rubbed her hands on his shoulders as she’d done before. The intoxicating cologne of his musk and sweat filled her nostrils once again, and his hands pushing her hair back and lingering on her cheek drove her wild. She would have him tonight, no matter the cost, and she sensed he was inclined to agree. Her own pheromones ran free when Alice turned to face him, uncrossed her legs, and placed her feet on his clothed lap.

“I know so, John. You’ve been so kind to me from hour one I’ve been here, and I couldn’t ask for anyone better to escort me to and from the mansion in the course of this case,” Alice beamed. Then she got an evil grin; pretended to gasp as, with a shrug of her shoulders, her nightie fell off and completely abandoned her body by pooling at her legs until she kicked it off; and sat with her legs between his, completely naked now as she sealed her fate for tonight.

“There is one last thing you could help me with,” she purred as Alice kissed his neck, ears, cheeks, and finally lips. “I appear to have lost my modesty. Perhaps you can help me find it again?” she winked as her fingers delicately traced John’s pecs. “By wrapping me entirely in your embrace, for instance?” Alice then asked again as she glanced at his crotch, making her meaning plain.

 

[PhoenixRising82]

”Well in all fairness, it is my pleasure to do so.”

The words drawled from his lips in a heedy haze of wine, the sweet scent of her freshly cleaned skin and the hint of her heat as she shifted and turned, a hand instantly drawn to her foot as it rested in his lap, fingers dancing and curling over the top to her ankle before curling around behind it and traveling up along her calf. He’d have kept going, had his attention not been distracted as his gaze followed the flutter of material down her body.

Bluish grey eyes drinking in the now bare mounds of flesh, rose colored nipples puckering and pointing toward him as if aching for his touch.

There was a soft grumble in his throat as she shifted again, dropping the nightgown the rest of the way to the floor before she climbed between his legs. His hand moving with her, coming to rest against her hip.

”Hmmm?”

He murmured as his head tipped to her flurry of kisses. Not that he needed her to really clarify, despite the fog in his head, he knew exactly what she wanted and he was all too happy to oblige.

Fingers and palm left a trail of heat across her skin as his hand slid from her hip, caressing over her side, barely teasing against the side of her breast, lingering, tauntingly there as he listened to her....request for help in searching her person for said modesty.

Pushing himself off his other hand, he let it draw to rest against her thigh. So close he could feel the heat from her core radiating against the tips of his fingers. His chest drew closer as he straightened. His thumb flicked suddenly, teasingly, against her nipple before his hand traveled the rest of the way up, curling around behind her neck, fingers tangling slightly in her hair, gripping gently at the nape of her neck. He drew closer still, pulling her in. His lips a breath away from her own.

She’d feel the tickle of his other hand, fingers teasing between her thighs and growing ever closer to the source of her heat.

”As you wish....”

Closer still he drew....

”We’ll start here...”

He murmured breathily against her lips. His own crashing against hers, consuming them in a hot, urgent kiss just as his fingers danced and teased against the engorged flesh they sought. A groan vibrating against her tongue as his fingers dipped lower, feeling the moist heat enveloping them. She’d pushed his buttons, now it was his turn.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Speaking of buttons, John’s soon flew everywhere as Alice ripped his shirt off with her surprisingly strong arms. His teasing caresses of her hip, breast, belly and thighs had been sending electric shocks across her entire body, making her shake for him and quickening her breathing. Then his touching of her clit and his tongue dominating her mouth made Alice’s back dip in his embrace, her diaphragm moan for John, and her mind lose all self control and precipitate the devastating attack on his shirt.

“Not under there either,” she panted with a giggle after breaking the kiss, thoroughly kissing and biting her paramour’s chest, and then sitting directly on his stiffening boxers, lock his steady, calming eyes in her own gaze, and then shifting forwards slightly to cup his head in her hands, graze his ear, and touch their noses together. “Damn, John, you sure know how to make a girl feel welcome,” Alice purred.

That caused John to lean forward and smash his lips into hers again, making Alice’s hands fly up in surprise before drifting back down to anchor on the back of his head. Alice closed her eyes and moaned into it as her dampening crotch found some relief in the form of his stiff knob.

When Alice came up for air, she got a calculating grin on her face and whispered in his ear, “I think I have one last place to check...closely” before moving down to kiss his trousers, discard them followed by John’s underwear, hold his penis aloft in a salute to the sky, and exhale on it. She licked her lips, an impish and sultry smile crossed her face, and without any further preamble Alice began sucking the sensitive head of John’s cock, sticking her ass up as she lathed his helmet with her tongue, lips, and soft palate.